Female Bobolink

We're having some scorching summer heat here in central NJ, but it's somewhat bearable in the late afternoons. I found the shade of cedar tree, yesterday next to a field in a local preserve near me. There were many tall green plants that looked as if they would make good perches. Within a few minutes two female Bobolinks flew in and landed right where I had pre focused. Of course a slight breeze came in as I started capturing images, which felt great, and lent a slight bend to the tops of the plants. C&C welcome.

D7000, 500mm + 1.4x tc, 1/500, f 8.0, ISO 640, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley Gimbal head.


Geoffrey

Looks great. Nice pose and nice natural perch. The bird pops against the green background.

Nice how the one branch is bending under her weight. Lovely color scheme. Looks like you lifted the shadow on the bird's belly which is causing some grain..maybe try a lighter hand?

Geoffrey

Good comments already. I might try to tone down the green color cast on the bird a bit. Nice that they cooperated for you.

I could also see a version with a bit of crop from the right, personal taste really.

Cheers

Randy

I like this one. The greens throughout the scene look great. The exposure and detail are perfect too. Yes to toning down the green in the bird a bit but a sweet frame none the less.

Nice pose and good detail on a very hard-to-get species. Once you've used the D7000 for a while, it will be interesting to get your observations on the trade-off between this and your full-frame bodies. Is what we're seeing here the result of greater reach vs more noise? Or maybe not; there shouldn't be much noise at ISO 640 unless the shadows were brightened as Grace suggests.

Thanks Everyone for your comments.




Geoffrey

Really nice Those grasses depict the habitat. I like the greens too, very vivid. Good to see a female Bobolink as we do not get to view them so much compared to the bold and loud males. Noise on the belly noted, and I kinda wish the brighter patch in the BG at left was green too.